Cairn
Terriers which seem to represent the original type of the improved
Scottie. Considering the great number of strains that have been
preserved by sporting families and maintained in more or less purity
to type, it is easy to understand how a "new" breed may become
fashionable, and still claim the honour of long descent. They may
not in all cases have the beauty of shape which is desired on the
show bench; but it is well to remember that while our show terriers
have been bred to the highest perfection we still possess in Great
Britain a separate order of "earth dogs" that for pluckily following
the fox and the badger into their lairs or bolting an otter from his
holt cannot be excelled all the world over.

CHAPTER XXIX

THE WHITE ENGLISH TERRIER

This dog, one would think, ought, by the dignified title which he
bears, to be considered a representative national terrier, forming
a fourth in the distinctively British quartette whose other members
are the Scottish, the Irish, and the Welsh Terriers. Possibly in the
early days when Pearson and Roocroft bred him to perfection it was
hoped and intended that he should become a breed typical of England.
He is still the only terrier who owns the national name, but he has
long ago yielded pride of place to the Fox-terrier, and it is the
case that the best specimens of his race are bred north of the border,
while, instead of being the most popular dog in the land, he is
actually one of the most neglected and the most seldom seen. At the
Kennel Club Show of 1909 there was not a single specimen of the breed
on view, nor was one to be found at the recent shows at Edinburgh,
Birmingham, Manchester, or Islington, nor at the National Terrier
Show at Westminster. It is a pity that so smart and beautiful a dog
should be suffered to fall into such absolute neglect. One wonders
what the reason of it can be. Possibly it is that the belief still
prevails that he is of delicate constitution, and is not gifted with
a great amount of intelligence or sagacity; there is no doubt,
however, that a potent factor in hastening the decline is to be found
in the edict against cropping. Neither the White Terrier nor the
Manchester Terrier has since been anything like so popular as they
both were before April, 1898, when the Kennel Club passed the law
that dogs' ears must not be cropped.

Writers on canine history, and Mr. Rawdon Lee among the number, tell
us that the English White Terrier